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Posts Tagged ‘stiff necks and hard hearts’

2 Peter 1:19-21: God’s Yardstick – Peter

Posted in Comparing Scripture, tagged , on January 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »


2 Peter 1:19-21: God’s Yardstick – Peter

The Morning Star in Our Heartsmorningstar_000

Friday, January 27, 2023

We continue to look for God’s yardstick in the New Testament.

Peter writes his Good News story not with ink or stylus but with his hands, feet, ears, eyes and lips. He sends us letters that remain pertinent through millennia.

We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice.

Peter understands that we doubt his story; yet he tells us this Good News from a full and loving heart.

The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it.

Peter knows about the distractions of the world and so he advises that we focus on his witness which we know to be true.

It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts.

Peter assures us that the light of Christ will pierce the darkness to warm hearts hardened by darkness and doubt.

The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart.

Who do you say that I am? Christ asks us just as he asked Peter.

Peter’s response to Jesus is recognition of who Jesus is.

Peter recognizes that the lure of false teachers tugs at us endlessly; for that reason, he tells us to rely on the divine Christ rather than those who give us simple solutions to complex problems.

Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word.

Peter urges us to rely on the Holy Spirit rather than those who harden hearts and stiffen necks. This is the measure of God’s mercy that Peter gives us today.

Tomorrow, Paul.

Visit Matthew 16:13-17 to examine the context of Peter’s response to Jesus’ question. 

When we use the scripture link above, we have the opportunity to explore more of Peter’s letters. For more on Jesus as The Morning Star, visit: http://biblehub.com/revelation/22-16.htm 

Or click on the image above to visit: http://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-rising-morning-star/ 

Cross image from: https://drlej.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/the-church-of-jesus-christ-the-gates-of-hell-shall-not-prevail/

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Baruch 2: The Road to Destruction or Redemption – Part II

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , on November 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Baruch 2: The Road to Destruction or Redemption – Part II

Thursday, November 24, 2022IMG_4553_20081019_fm3005_destruction

In Isaiah 24 we read about the devastation of all but the faithful remnant. In Nehemiah 2 we see a heart wrenching return to the destroyed Jerusalem. In Revelation 18 we witness the fall of Babylon at her own hands and the destruction of those who followed the unholy trinity of beast, harlot and false prophet and their attendant demon spirits. With the forces of darkness there is always a final end. With the forces of light there is always ultimate and infinite jubilation.

Baruch reminds us that there are many ways to visit Babylon and drink of her waters poisoned with the blood of the innocent. Baruch also reminds us that the door to the New Jerusalem is standing open to us. There will be a new heaven and a new earth as a counterpoint to the closed, dark, silent void.

God knows that he has created a stiff-necked people; but he has also invited us to convert this stubbornness to an intentional devotion to Christ. In so doing we decide to walk from darkness to light where we will recall the words of the Lord to us: I will bring them back to the land which with my oath I promised to their fathers . . . and they shall rule it.  I will make them increase; they shall not diminish.  And I will establish for them an eternal covenant, that I will be their God and they shall be my people; and I will not again remove my people Israel from the land I give them.

Minolta DSC

Jesus came into the world to release us from darkness and destruction. Permanently and eternally. Do we choose to reject this covenant offer of love? Or do we, the chosen bride, decide to follow the groom where he leads us? As we rise each day, the decision lies before us. Perdition or redemption, destruction or salvation. The clear choice lies before us and it is time for us to act. So let us invite others to join us in combating dense and heavy darkness with the light and truth of Christ.

Adapted from a favorite from November 8, 2008.

Images from: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/algo/71139361/ and https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/flagler-county-road-crumbles-into-atlantic-ocean-due-to-tropical-storm-nicole-waves

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James 4:11-12: Honoring the Message

Posted in Comparing Scripture, tagged , , , on October 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »


James 4:11-12: Honoring the Message

Friday, October 21, 2022stone-heart

Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk.

And this is the Law that Jesus bring to us, The Law of Love. No matter what we hear or see, we must continue to do as Jesus does. Speak well of others, even when we find it difficult to do so.

You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it.

And this is the message that the Spirit creates in us. No matter how deeply we feel the injustices of the world, we are to witness, watch and wait on the Spirit.

God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?

And this is James’ message to us. Not that our lives are predestined and predetermined, but that our lives are integral parts of God’s marvelous plan for creation. No matter the harm we experience, God will turn all injury, maltreatment and sorrow to goodness. No matter the darkness, Jesus brings light sufficient to pierce it. No matter the appearance of our individual and collective lives, the Spirit has only healing and transformation in mind for our hearts of stone. Jesus shows us how to soften our hearts and unbend our stiff necks in order to hear God’s message. Let us honor this message today.

When we compare varying versions of these two verses and listen for the words of the Spirit, we allow God’s message to visit us today. 

Image from: http://girltomom.com/nature/hearts-in-nature

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Matthew 8:18-22: Followers

Posted in Mini-Noontime, tagged , on May 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Matthew 8:18-22: Followersfox-kit-at-den-entrance-in-saskatchewan

Friday, May 20, 2022

We say: Teacher, I will follow you wherever you will go . . .

Jesus says: Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head . . .

God says: These may seem like sad words to you but they express a reality. I knock on the doors of those who ask for my help yet so often no one answers because they see a beggar, a woman, one suffering from disease, an outcast outside their comfortable home. When you see the least of my people you see me. Remember that I am meek and humble of heart. I am a child coming to your with nowhere to lay my head. I look for refuge with you even as you look for me.

We say: Lord, let me go first and bury my father . . .

Jesus says: Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead . . .

Why-do-birds-build-nest1God says: These words may sound harsh but again, they tell of a reality that I see. My children concern themselves for that which is already gone, for that which they cannot control, for that which is mine to handle. When I make plans for you to learn the lessons that will soften your heart and unbend your stiff neck, I do this out of love. I have plans for your wholeness and unity in me. I do not have plans for your woe. I have plans for your happiness and love through me. I do not have plans for your pain. I have plans to heal your suffering and to transform our heart; I do not have plans for your ruin. I have plans for life eternal in me. Seize this opportunity to be a true follower rather than one who would be . . .

Enter the word disciple into the blog search bar and explore the words we have heard so often that reveal our life in Christ.

Click on the images in this post to learn more about why birds build nests and why Jesus may have used this imagery. 

Images from: http://emmock.com/2013/10/05/bible-blog-1162/ and 

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Ezekiel 3:17-27: The Prophet as Watchman – Gratitude for our Stumbling Blocks

Posted in Favorite, Mini-Noontime, Prophecy, tagged , , , on February 11, 2022| 1 Comment »


Friday, February 11, 2022

A Watch Tower in Cadiz, Spain

A Watch Tower in Cadiz, Spain

Ezekiel 3:17-27

The Prophet as Watchman: Gratitude for our Stumbling Blocks

I have appointed you as sentinel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, warn my people from me.

God says: Do not be surprised that I have appointed you as sentinel to my people for you have been faithful in great and in little things. When I speak, send on my word, live my word.

When I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” and you do not warn them or speak out to warn them, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand.

God says: Do not be afraid to deliver news that others perceive as negative or ugly. Send on my word with mercy and justice. Be compassionate always, but deliver my message nonetheless for it is as important for you to speak as it is for others to hear.

If you have warned the wicked and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their wicked way, they shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.

God says: Do not worry if my word returns to you empty. I do not expect you to transform hard hearts and unbend stiff necks; but I expect that you will send my word on.

When I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, “Thus says the Lord God”. The one who hears, hear; and the one who refuses, let that one refuse; for they are a rebellious house.

God says: Speak in my name and in that alone is your reward. When you do this although it is outside of your comfort zone, you set the same example as does my son Jesus. When you speak the words that lie in the quiet of other hearts, you demonstrate your fidelity. When you act as Jesus acts you show me the heart I have planted in you. Act in me as I act in you . . . and this will be enough. Give thanks that I am with you. Give thanks that you are not alone. Give thanks that my love dwells within you . . . and that I find it great enough to share. This has been the gift of your stumbling block. It is the gift of the watch tower. It is the gift of my eternal life in you.

Image from: http://www.rgbstock.com/bigphoto/mLeS5wW/Cadiz+24

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Jeremiah 42: . . . You Are Remnant

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , , , , on September 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »


nile mapMonday, September 13, 2021

Jeremiah 42

. . . You Are Remnant

 

If you remain quietly in this land I will build you up, and not tear you down . . .

We will know when we are closest to God when our hearts are broken.

I will plant you, not uproot you . . .

We will know that God is near when we hear the call to make reparation.

For I regret the evil I have done you . . .

When we most feel like abandoning a place or a relationship, we will know that restoration is at hand.

Then listen to the word of the Lord, remnant of Judah.

When we repent our own broken vows, when we remain rooted and bloom where we are planted . . .

The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel. 

When we build bridges with our enemies . . .

The Lord has brought them back from the land of the north.

When we move forward into true union and intimacy with God . . .

The Lord will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child, they shall return as an immense throng. 

When we ask nothing more than to do God’s will . . . then we will know that we are remnant.

They departed in tears, and the Lord will console them and guide them; the virgins will make merry and dance, and young men and old as well.  

So let us sing with our remnant companions . . .

The Lord will turn their mourning into joy, the Lord will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

And let us call others to the dance . . .

Cease your tears of mourning, wipe the tears from your eyes, the sorrow you have sown shall have its reward.

Let us recount how the Lord has rescued us . . .

There is hope for your future.

And let us remember that we are God’s beloved . . .

How long will you continue to stray o rebellious daughter?  

Let us tell others of the wonders of God’s love . . .

The Lord has created a new thing upon the earth.

Let us soften our hearts and unbend our stiff necks . . .

The Lord will place a new law within them, and write it upon their hearts.

Let us agree to be God’s people . . .

“I will be their God”, says the Lord, “and they will be my people”. 

For there is nothing more worthy than remaining faithful to God . . . there is nothing more worthy than becoming remnant.

Image from: http://www.keyway.ca/htm2012/20121230.htm

Adapted from a reflection written on October 7, 2007.

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Jeremiah 19: The Dust of Topheth

Posted in Poetry, tagged , , , on August 9, 2021| 1 Comment »


Monday, August 9, 2021

Jeremiah 19

The Dust of Topheth

For information on the town of Topheth, the priest Pashur, the gods Baal and Molech, and how Jeremiah’s predictions play out, enter the words The Potter’s Flask into the blog search bar and explore. 

Broken Pottery

Broken Pottery

Ancient society can be traced through its pottery. Ceramic pots were ubiquitous. They were designed, created and decorated by artisans to hold or carry everything from water and food to medicines and even funeral offerings. For more on this ancient craft, visit: http://www.ancient.eu/pottery/

Today, we spend time with Jeremiah and image of the broken jug.

The Dust of Topheth

The name of Topheth we utter no longer, its singular offering is shame and amazement.

The potter’s flask floats before us; yet we convince ourselves that our walls are exempt.

Our circumstance is special; our creation unique.

So well loved, we cannot stray.

So well nourished, we cannot fall.

The Valley of Slaughter is distant; yet Baal and Molech await first-born offerings with leery eye and eager lip.

Status and wealth build narrow walls against approaching truths.

So well tended, we cannot falter.

So well equipped, we cannot fail.

Prophets raise shadow arms to pronounce sacred words with parched throats while Pashur gathers warm beds against the arriving storm.

Deaf ears and silent hands cast down the potter’s flask where it lies broken with the bones of those who grapple with falling city walls.

So well guided, we cannot lose our way.

So well protected, we cannot perish.

And yet Adonai is near.

In the still of destruction the house of Jerusalem lives in the hearts of the remnant.

Israel breathes yet in the faithful who bore Topheth on exhausted backs and empty bellies.

Stiff necks and hard hearts vanish with the grime of rubble . . .

Leaving the hearts of the faithful to rise in the dust of Topheth.

Image from: http://foraseason.blogspot.com/2009/01/jeremiah-191-15.htmlFriday,%20August 22, 2014

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Jeremiah 17:1-11: Obstinacy

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , on August 6, 2021| 1 Comment »


hard-heartFriday, August 6, 2021

Jeremiah 17:1-11

Obstinacy

Jeremiah speaks so much about the human heart, that place where God speaks, that place where God writes, that place that chooses to respond to the Call we know we hear. Today’s reading is about the stony heart, the hard heart that accompanies the stiff neck, the heart that turns away from Wisdom and so becomes cold and lifeless.

Jeremiah predicts that God will write a new covenant (31:31), a new message on our hearts of stone.  Just as the Israelites turned back to God after having worshiped false gods, so will we once we hear the message of the voice that speaks in that inner place – the only place we trust.

Jeremiah also tells us that the Lord has in mind wonderful plans for us, plans for our joy rather than tears, plans for a newness of heart (29:11).

What is it that hardens hearts and stiffens necks?  The writers of the MAGNIFICAT Mini-Reflection tell us that it is pride when we believe that we have all of the answers to all the world’s problems when in truth we have none.  The true answers to the deepest of mysteries are opened to us by Wisdom that comes to us when we trust only in God.

Pride sets subtle snares.  Whenever we imagine that we are in control of life – our own or someone else’s – we have fallen prey to the ancient whisper in the Garden: “You shall be like Gods”.  Mortality is the enduring reminder that we become like God not by our own power but by the power of the cross.  (Cameron 270-271)

We constantly forget that we are already divine. We repeatedly succumb to the subtle call of pride. We regularly forget that we learn best when we fail. Obstinacy in our own plans brings pain. Perseverance and faithfulness are gifts of the Spirit.  Pride in our possessions and accomplishments brings disappointment. Obedience and patience are joy. Hardness of heart brings narrowness. Softness of heart opens the mind, body and spirit. Once we agree to kneel in order to crawl though the Eye of the Needle, we will know Christ’s healing power. The power he gained through his own refusal to succumb to the siren call of pride. The life he gives when we put aside all obstinacy.

Adapted from a reflection written on August 19, 2008.

Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Morning.” MAGNIFICAT. 19.8 (2012): 270-271. Print. 

Image from: https://therock.life/

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Jeremiah 16: Walking in Hardness

Posted in Comparing Scripture, tagged , , on August 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »


crossroads1Thursday, August 5, 2021

Jeremiah 16

Walking in Hardness

We have all experienced the neighbor who has nothing good to say about anyone or any circumstance; they are old before their time; they believe themselves expert on all aspects of life and death. We all have acquaintances who refuse to see reality; they reject information about local or global events; they see themselves as isolated entities unaffected by the world’s happenings. Perhaps we are the curmudgeons who scowl across back yard fences; or perhaps we are work colleagues who refuse to accept reality. Whether we see the world as bleak or promising, we each must assess our pathway in it. We must evaluate where we walk in hardness or in Christ.

Jeremiah today describes his condition and it is not a happy one. He suffers greatly at the hands of those who, instead of blaming, ought to be thanking him. He speaks truth and yet is accused of lying. As he delivers God’s words, he confronts both naysayers and Pollyannas and knows that he is seen as a fool. This message came to me, he begins; and rather than ask to hear the words of truth that will bring them into The Way, his audience prefers the way of hard hearts and stiff necks. Fortunately for us, the Lord says: I will bring them back to the land which I gave their fathers. God always welcomes us home. Fortunately for us, Jeremiah persists in his fidelity to God. He persists in delivering his message. Fortunately for us, the prophet is faithful in conveying God’s words that ask where and how and why we walk.

Let us spend some time today looking in a quiet, spiritual mirror to reflect on our own hardness of heart and our openness to God, for we all try to spend a time in both those paths. Let us think about our commitment to knowing God well and responding to God’s call to soften ourselves. And let us examine our response to these words: O Lord, my strength, my fortress, my city in the day of distress!

Where do we go in our day of distress? Where and how and why do we walk? Is it in the way of hardness, or is in The Way of Christ?

Which path do we choose?

Enter the words The Way into the blog search bar and examine where and why and how we walk. Or examine the four scripture versions of Jeremiah 16 by clicking on the scripture link, choose different versions of this prophecy and listen to God’s word in a new way. 

For a reflection on Jeremiah’s celibacy and some thoughts on suffering and joy as seen through this prophet, enter the words The Source of Life into the blog search bar and explore. 

Image from: https://djastinconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/crossing-paths/

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